7月18日靈修禱文

July 18th, 2020

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John14:18

Thought

Over the past few months, some of my relatives, friends, and brothers and sisters passed away. Some of them were not very old. I really felt sad. In the Gospel of John chapter 14, Jesus taught his disciples not to be sad over his departure. Jesus was in his thirties, and had lived with them for a couple of years. He said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Regarding the sentence "I will come to you", some Bible scholars considered that it meant Lord Jesus' resurrection after three days. Some thought that it meant the second coming of the Lord. But many thought that it meant, from the context of the conversation, that the Lord would continue to live with the disciples, and the present believers, by means of the Holy Spirit. Because he lives, we also will live, until we realize that he is in his Father, and we are in him. What a close relationship! If we rely on our own effort in everything, we won't be able to experience life that has Lord Jesus' presence. The whole chapter has lots of the Lord's promises. Let us read the passage carefully, spending time to meditate on these promises. God has sent the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, who will lead us to inherit these promises. Let us have the experience of living with Lord Jesus like the disciples.

Prayer

O Lord, thank you for guarding and caring for us. Though you are not on earth for the time being, you do not leave us as orphans. You gave us the Advocate, helping us to pray and leading us to understand your word. We pray that the Lord will give us a heart that yearns for you. May we be in you always, until we see your face again. Amen.

Elder Henry Leung

我不撇下你們為孤兒、我必到你們這裡來。

約翰福音14:18

思想

在過去幾個月,身邊不少的親友及弟兄姊妹相繼離世. 有些年紀更不是很大,心裡面實在感到難過. 在約翰福音十四章,耶稣卻教導門徒對他這樣一個三十多歲,和他們一同生活了幾年的人的離去心裏不要憂傷.「我不撇下你們為孤兒、我必到你們這裡來。」對於我必到你們這裏來, 有聖經學者認為是指主耶稣三天後復活,有也認為是指主第二次再來,但更多覺得承接上文下理是指主以聖靈的形態與門徒及今日的信徒繼續在一起. 並且因為他的活著,我們也要活著. 直到我們知道主耶稣是在父裏面,而我們也是在他裏面這種親蜜的關係.倘若我們做甚麽事都是靠自己的力量,便不可以嘗到與主耶稣同在的生活. 這章經文充滿了主的應許.讓我們仔細讀這段經文,花時間默想主這些應許.神已賜下聖靈作我們的導師,祂會引領我們去承受這些應許,讓我們能與使徒一樣有着與主耶穌共同生活的經歷。